


Good Faith

by Psychopersonified



Series: Are we ever going to talk about this? [6]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Banter, Childhood Stories, Humour, M/M, Newly established relationship, fluff with feeling, mentions of family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:47:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24817846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Psychopersonified/pseuds/Psychopersonified
Summary: Awkward introductions lead Q to discuss about 'them' in their usual oblique manner. Q reveals a little more of himself including his childhood with grandparents. A glimpse into their private lives.---“I’m offering perpetuity in good faith… but uncontrollable market risks may cause an adjustment in the terms,” market conditions always weigh heavily over them. Bond brings their laced hands up to hold it tightly over his heart. They’ll just have to take whatever they can get.---
Relationships: James Bond/Q
Series: Are we ever going to talk about this? [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1763425
Comments: 12
Kudos: 155





	Good Faith

**Author's Note:**

> Part of a longer story arc but can be read as a standalone as with most of my stories.
> 
> Though I highly recommend to read the series to get emotionally invested, this short piece will feel a lot more satisfying once you know their backstory.

**Chinatown, London**

Q accepts the fragrant bag of Chinese takeaway from the cashier with a thanks. It is supremely crowded inside, so he had Bond wait for him outside so as not to add to the overcrowding. He squeezes his way out past the queue of waiting patrons, mindful of the scalding hot soup he’s carrying. He makes it outside with only one profuse apology for stepping on a lady’s feet and nearly whacking her daughter on the head with his elbow. 

Outside, standing by the menu display is the blonde man he’s looking for. As he nears Bond, the man reaches out to take the bag from him, but is suddenly pulled back from behind by a delicate hand wrapping around his bicep. 

“JAMES?! I knew I recognised that arse anywhere!” Two women, one quickly wraps herself around his arm, another smacking him firmly on said arse. 

Bond looks shocked for a moment before recovering. They genuinely caught him off guard. “Kate… Gemma… did not expect to see you here! How are you?” Bond feigns excitement, struggling with the names at first. 

“Haven’t seen you in a while James. Where have you been?!” 

“We’ve missed you!” they proclaim, hugging him with _distressing_ familiarity.

“Ahh… I’ve been busy at work,” Bond tries to pull away after the hug, but Gemma’s talons are dug into his arm. He reaches for Q with his free arm, who steps closer by instinct. 

“This is…,”

-O _h, this is going to be interesting-_ , Q thinks. They haven’t settled on a description of what they are to each other. Q is impressed when James doesn’t hesitate. 

“… my partner, Collin—” James starts. 

“—Oh! From Universal Exports? I’m Kate, nice to meet you. How’s business?” Kate reaches out to shake his hand, steamrolling over the rest of the introduction. She and Gemma seem to have misunderstood what Bond meant. 

“Uh… Nice to met you. Business… is good. Thank you,” Q is blindsided by the overtly extroverted energy and too polite to correct her.

“Mind if we borrow James for just a minute? It’s been _SO_ long.” She asks with a wink, and doesn’t wait for an answer. They pull Bond aside a few feet, leaving Q to stand awkwardly with the takeaway bag in the middle of Chinatown’s busy street. He moves aside to let people pass. 

Q overhears their conversation. Kate and Gemma try to get James to agree to dinner, to make up for ghosting them. James declines, he’s already gotten takeaway. Pause as both women regard Q and the bag he’s carrying. Gemma says bring Collin along. James says no again, they are having a quiet night in… _together_. Still neither women seem to understand, intent on their cajoling efforts - so excited are they that they are talking over each other and Bond can’t get a word in edgewise. 

Finally, James has had enough. He apologises for not calling, seems he lost their number with his last phone. Kate is insistent on making sure James has her number again - to the point she tries to pick his phone out of his chinos. 

But Bond catches her deft hand before it slips into his pocket and holds it in place, away from his body. Then with his free hand, peels Gemma’s fine manicure off his bicep and holds it together with Kate’s. He doesn’t push them away, being far too gentlemanly for that - but backs his own body away, putting distance between them. 

“Apologies ladies. It’s a business phone, and the company is particularly strict about what we us it for. Collin can attest to that,” Bond makes his excuses and ropes Q in for the rescue. 

“Hmm? Oh yes. Very strict.” Q nods earnestly to confirm the statement. 

Kate harrumphs her disappointment, but then digs in her handbag for a business card and presses it into Bond’s hand. 

“DON’T loose it!” she warns him with a finger in his face. Then they both pepper him with goodbye kisses before turning around to enter the restaurant next door. 

James quickly grabs hold of Q and leads him off in the opposite direction. When they have safely turned the corner, he exchanges the takeaway bag in Q’s hand with the business card, not once looking at it.

“Long time friends of yours?” Q asks pointedly. 

“We had standing arrangements, previously…” James at least looks sheepish. 

Q studies the card and flips it over, “Sure you don’t want to keep this? You know, to bolster your portfolio?” he teases. 

“Nothing I want to invest in anymore,” James quips. 

“Don’t think I don’t know you’re trained to memorise numbers and addresses at a glance.” 

“And you have your technology to monitor my every move.” 

“Ah, but you have the skills to circumvent them.” 

“I guess we’ll just have to trust each other then,” James smiles and links their arms. 

Q would normally leave it at that. It should be enough reassurance. But he’s feeling a little slighted by Kate and Gemma’s earlier dismissal of him. Like it did not even occur to them that he might be more than a business associate; even with repeated hints otherwise. It’s making him feel uncharacteristically insecure even if James has his hand in his while they walk.

They walk in comfortable silence until they reach the tube station. Q bins the business card before they enter. At the platform while they wait for the train, Q turns to the man he now lives with. The yellow-white lighting isn’t particularly flattering but it makes Bond look more real, just a regular guy. 

He bumps Bond lightly with his shoulder to get his attention, “James, we’ve never discussed this, and I guess I just assumed…” 

James quirks an eyebrow at him to show he’s listening.

“Are you…,” Q feels incredibly silly for asking, but he wants to have confirmation, ”…still open for business?”

Blue eyes lock on green, searching. Then he answers carefully, “I’ve… divested all non performing assets and… reinvested the proceeds into a mutually exclusive partnership with someone I care deeply for.” His warm fingers laced between Q’s tightens.

Hearing the sentiment spoken even if he knew it tacitly causes an unexpected bloom of happiness inside him. It manifests as a shy smile even as he probes further, “Are you looking at terms in annuity or perpetuity?” 

“I’m offering perpetuity in good faith… but uncontrollable market risks may cause an adjustment in the terms,” _market conditions_ always weigh heavily over them. Bond brings their laced hands up to hold it tightly over his heart. They’ll just have to take whatever they can get. 

“Is that a verbal or contractual agreement?” Q meant it playfully, but realises how it sounds only after it comes out. _Now who’s pushing too fast?_

Bond looks caught out for a second, and Q thinks he’s ruined the moment. 

“Sorry, you don’t have to—“ Q starts to correct himself. 

“—It can be… _contractual_ ,” James replies quickly, then leans over to kiss away the surprised look on Q’s face, ”Believe it or not, I’ve actually given it some thought. Though considering our line of work, we should discuss the logistics in more detail.” 

The train arrives. James lets go of his hand to move Q to the front of him shielding him from the crush waiting to get on. It is standing room only inside, but fortunately not overly packed. James crowds him against the seat end partition just inside the sliding door, using his body to prevent Q from getting jostled. In the beginning, Q thought he was sweet that way, but soon realised that it was likely trained instinct - asset guarding technique. Q leans back against the partition, watching the thoughtful look on James’ face that lasts for the duration of the journey. 

When they are out of the station and walking home, he comes out with what has been preoccupying him. 

“Q… your parents, they’re still around aren’t they?” It’s James’s turn to probe. They’ve talked about their childhoods before, but Q hasn’t spoken much about his parents per se. 

“Yes, they are. They divorced when I was little. Mum’s remarried and lives in Paris with her family. She’s a bureaucrat at the European Space Agency… Finance. I know, the horror,” he stifles a laughter. 

“Dad never remarried, they both used to work for the British National Space Centre, that’s how he and mum met. Now he’s a senior engineer at CERN working on the LHC.” 

James can’t help but quirk a smile. So that’s where Q gets it from. His mother’s head for budgeting and his father’s technical mind - and the Double-0s are the beneficiary of this combined legacy. The nagging about the cost of equipment and insistence on their safe return all make sense now. 

“Why?” Q is suddenly suspicious.

“I was thinking... if I should meet them? You know, social conventions and all.”

“James…” Q’s suspicion turns into a full on teasing smile, ”Who would have ever pegged you for the old fashioned type.” 

“You wanted to to be wooed.” James deflects the blame back to him.

“Well if you’re serious, we could try mum one weekend. She’s more likely to be available. Dad’s more difficult. He’s a bit of the nutty professor type. When he’s on a project, you’d be hard pressed to catch his attention.”

“I can’t imagine…” James says dryly. “Are you close to them?” 

“Not really, not since the divorce. Dad’s parents raised me. They’re both gone now. Granny was a nurse. Granpa was a naval engineer…,” Q stops walking abruptly, “Do you suppose that’s where I got my thing for Navy men from?”

James stops as well, turning around to regard him, “If you say I remind you of your grandfather, I’m sending you to your room without supper.” 

That sets Q off laughing all the way up to the flat, teasing James mercilessly. He even found among old photos he had scanned for safekeeping on his cloud server - one of grandad in his Navy uniform and shows it to James. 

James points out Grandpa’s Lieutenant-Cmdr rank is equivalent to a Major in the Royal Army, drawing parallels with the late Major Boothroyd, Q’s former mentor. The revelation sends Q into more paroxysms of laughter.

“Oh Christ! It’s a good thing I don’t need quarterly psych evaluations. Dr Epstein would have a field day with this!” Q proclaims, raking his fingers though his hair and tugging at the crown. 

Up in the flat, Q takes a moment to regain his composure by leaning against the door after he locks it. Spot and Jellicles come by to check things out; Spot only making it halfway to Q before detouring sharply to the dinning area where the delicious smells are coming from. 

James warns the orange moggie off from jumping the dinning table with a sharp *tssskt*. Spot sits primly back down on the chair and meows disgruntled - greedy yellow eyes peering over the top of the table. 

“Come and have your dinner before it gets cold,” he calls out to Q while staring down the cat. 

Q does as he’s told, settling himself in a chair next to James. The older man shifting to accommodate when Q swings his legs up to rest across his lap. Now that they’re home, Q has no compunction about demanding physical contact. James runs a hand up and down, petting the bony shins and shapely calves while he eats. 

The egg rolls get demolished quickly, Q dipping them in a concerning amount of sweet chilli sauce before popping them into his mouth. Snogging is going to be interesting later. 

Q tells him more fond stories about his grandad and the makeshift experiments they used to carryout in the back garden - recalling one memorable test that managed to singe part of his fringe off. 

“…so after about 20 minutes, we thought hang on… we’ve got all these balloons filled with wonderfully flammable homemade hydrogen. _Maybe_ if we attached it to one of my plastic spaceship models, fashion a slow release nozzle to control the gas flow - we use the gas as propellant to launch it…”

“… and then Grandad said: _light it, let go and run_! But I got the instructions mixed up… lit it, but didn’t let go and ran still holding on to it over my head. Luckily it slipped out of my hand a second later. The snorkel goggles covered most of my face, but my hair stuck out over it and whoosh! Ohh, but how that thing caught air. Burnt up on reentry though….” Q recounts wistfully. 

“Granny was _SO_ mad at him that weekend. We had to cut my singed hair, and I ended up going to school with a bowl cut the next week!” Q laughs so hard at the memory he nearly spills his dumpling soup. James laughs along, especially when Q shows him the photographic evidence. 

When they are about done with dinner, he reassures James, “Seriously though, you don’t have to worry about my parents. My family, the one that I’m closest to is in Six. Q-Branch, Eve, Tanner, Mark… the other Double-0s. If you’re looking for approval; not that you are—“ Q quickly adds, _God forbid_ he suggests that 007 requires validation for anything, “—it’s their approval you want.”

James thinks about it; fair enough, except…, “Alright… but what have the other Double-0s got to do with us? How close _exactly_ are you to the rest of them?” Those blue eyes narrow dangerously. 

Q lets his eyes flash wide, miming the word _-Whoops-_ and then schools his face into one of false ignorance; knowingly goading James on. Trust him to be territorial whenever Q mentions the _others_. 

“Trevelyan is former Navy as well, isn’t he?” the non-committal answer earns him a ruthless pinch to the underside of his thigh. 

“Ah! I’m just making an observation!” He further triggers the possessive behaviour by feigning a half-hearted attempt at escape, cautiously starting to pull his legs away - predictably, James pins them in place and leans in like a lion ready to pounce. 

“Q…” his warning growl deliciously vicious, portending _consequences_ if he refuses to comply. Q absolutely _loves_ it - it lends an extra edge to their play fights. He bites his bottom lip, hiding his smile - if he stays obstinately evasive enough, James might try more coercive methods of interrogation later. _Hmmm… he can’t wait._

—— End——

**Author's Note:**

> Slipped in a little of Q's Origin story. 
> 
> If you're new to my stories, there's plenty more over several series. All of them in manageable length standalone stories.  
> Kidnapped!Q is a more serious 'spy meets science fiction' series that takes place in the same 'verse.
> 
> Please like, comment, bookmark if you enjoyed this and the others. Always makes my day to hear from readers!


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